I had to accompany my mother to a doctor today so that she could have a quick check-up.
Unfortunately the doctor happened to be a pediatrist too and the place was pretty crowded. Since we stay way out of the city, there are no entertainment avenues available here. I can just imagine a family finishing their tea and saying,"There seems nothing good on TV. Let's go to the doc. It's cheaper than going into the city. Costs us just 50 bucks and junior here can get his shot on time!"
So the entire family dresses in their best, the mother and father, two sisters and junior (who is about 6 months old) and then, they call their neighbours with kids, and decide to go together.
Once they are at the doctor's, they start to catch up on gossip, and start screaming, trying to drown out the voices of their bawling kids! And all those babies are surely training to be sopranos, I heard no bases in those squeals!
After we waited for about one and a half-hours, we finally got to see the doc and left, no more pediatricians, better stick to the general practioners unless you have no choice.
Friday, April 13
Tuesday, April 10
Fiction - Her first kiss
She was thirteen years old when she met him in the park one day. He smiled at her and she blushed, the girls in class always whispered about him, he was the captain of the school cricket team and was tall, taller than her brothers and looked much stronger.
When they met again on the grounds behind the school, she knew he was going to kiss her and waited with bated breath. After that moment, she felt she would never be the same again. Her dream was shattered, the movies and novels had led her to believe that it would be earth-shattering, but it was just, well, wet. All she could remember was someone slobbering over her.
A sobering thought struck her, Padma, her neighbour in class had told her that girls got pregnant on kissing, she panicked now and ran to him. He was sixteen, he would know what to do.
"What if I get pregnant?", she sobbed to him
"What!", he looked puzzled and irritated. He was donning his pads, on his way to the pitch when she stopped him.
"We kissed, what if I get pregnant?"
"Don't be stupid!!", he brushed her aside and went out to face the fast bowler.
She left the grounds, dejected, she felt cheap now, cheap and used, still frightened that she could get pregnant.
Her nightmares started that night, in every one, she was pregnant, her family disowned her and he was laughing at her and saying,"You were stupid!!"
When they met again on the grounds behind the school, she knew he was going to kiss her and waited with bated breath. After that moment, she felt she would never be the same again. Her dream was shattered, the movies and novels had led her to believe that it would be earth-shattering, but it was just, well, wet. All she could remember was someone slobbering over her.
A sobering thought struck her, Padma, her neighbour in class had told her that girls got pregnant on kissing, she panicked now and ran to him. He was sixteen, he would know what to do.
"What if I get pregnant?", she sobbed to him
"What!", he looked puzzled and irritated. He was donning his pads, on his way to the pitch when she stopped him.
"We kissed, what if I get pregnant?"
"Don't be stupid!!", he brushed her aside and went out to face the fast bowler.
She left the grounds, dejected, she felt cheap now, cheap and used, still frightened that she could get pregnant.
Her nightmares started that night, in every one, she was pregnant, her family disowned her and he was laughing at her and saying,"You were stupid!!"
Monday, April 9
Ramblings
No time to think, no time to grieve for lost friends
No time to remember, no time to ponder
Memories assail me, tantalizing me with forgotten laughter
Shadows creep in now, and the hue of twilight seems far away
Framed in an artist’s canvas,
Words that once were familiar, now refuse to form coherent sentences
Or perhaps its my feelings that are smothered
Verses and lines that once were a part of my soul
Have locked themselves away, disdaining me
As I once turned from them in contempt,
And now all that remains,
Is a silent voice in my head,
That reminds me of the times when I lived,
When I smiled at the sunrise and gloried in the breeze,
When the feel of grass underneath my feet
Was enough to make me feel special
There is drudgery now,
Of my own making,
Choices made, leading me down paths
That have lost me my true world,
I look around, and alas
I am a stranger now
In this world of my creation,
And only a distant memory in the other world where I once belonged!
No time to remember, no time to ponder
Memories assail me, tantalizing me with forgotten laughter
Shadows creep in now, and the hue of twilight seems far away
Framed in an artist’s canvas,
Words that once were familiar, now refuse to form coherent sentences
Or perhaps its my feelings that are smothered
Verses and lines that once were a part of my soul
Have locked themselves away, disdaining me
As I once turned from them in contempt,
And now all that remains,
Is a silent voice in my head,
That reminds me of the times when I lived,
When I smiled at the sunrise and gloried in the breeze,
When the feel of grass underneath my feet
Was enough to make me feel special
There is drudgery now,
Of my own making,
Choices made, leading me down paths
That have lost me my true world,
I look around, and alas
I am a stranger now
In this world of my creation,
And only a distant memory in the other world where I once belonged!
Friday, April 6
Theatre Nisha - my first experience of a play in Chennai
I finally got to see a play directed and staged by Theatre Nisha at the Alliance de Francaise.
The programme was actually a rendition of four short stories, unfortunately, I missed the first one and seated myself just in time for the start of the second one.
This story dealt with lesbians and how the society is responsible for some of them becoming so. It was a daring theme to be played to a Chennai audience no doubt, and though the acting for this story was way below par, they did make us sit on the edge of our seats, because of the brilliant screenplay. The story was told through the eyes of a small girl sent to live with one of her aunts and the rest unfolds from there.
What struck me most was the use of language to display emotion, the rythmical lines were written to strike a chord in the audience, but it was a discordant chord for me, I do not want to hear words such as "languishing eyes and alabastor skin not-withstanding, she was spurned in favour of gossamer shirts..." from a character who is supposed to be thirteen years old.
So while I appreciated the subject as well as the screenplay over-all, the language came across as forced and the actors seemed uncomfortable with the play overall. But kudos to the director to have selected this topic!
The next story was about a painter and his fifteen-year muse, the actor was superb here and when he began to sing, did capture the audience's attention with his melodies.
The last story was the best of the lot, it was about the musings of a woman on courtesans, in particular her neighbours. This was a monologue and unless the actor is skilled, the audience can easily lose their attention, but the actress playing this was experienced and her use of tone and modulation(ah, that long lost skill) alongwith a witty and at-times catty dialogue held us suspended in the theatre, straining to listen to her, laughing at some of her atrocious statements "Did she think that I had done an M.Ed to teach her daughter on what to wear for whom, pyjamas for the Punjabis, lenghas for the Gujaratis??" ending with the statement,"Oh, it must be another apartment!", the typical Indian way of explaining away blunders in society when one marks on a well-known person's behaviour was par comparison.
Definitely a troupe to watch out for - Theatre Nisha.
The programme was actually a rendition of four short stories, unfortunately, I missed the first one and seated myself just in time for the start of the second one.
This story dealt with lesbians and how the society is responsible for some of them becoming so. It was a daring theme to be played to a Chennai audience no doubt, and though the acting for this story was way below par, they did make us sit on the edge of our seats, because of the brilliant screenplay. The story was told through the eyes of a small girl sent to live with one of her aunts and the rest unfolds from there.
What struck me most was the use of language to display emotion, the rythmical lines were written to strike a chord in the audience, but it was a discordant chord for me, I do not want to hear words such as "languishing eyes and alabastor skin not-withstanding, she was spurned in favour of gossamer shirts..." from a character who is supposed to be thirteen years old.
So while I appreciated the subject as well as the screenplay over-all, the language came across as forced and the actors seemed uncomfortable with the play overall. But kudos to the director to have selected this topic!
The next story was about a painter and his fifteen-year muse, the actor was superb here and when he began to sing, did capture the audience's attention with his melodies.
The last story was the best of the lot, it was about the musings of a woman on courtesans, in particular her neighbours. This was a monologue and unless the actor is skilled, the audience can easily lose their attention, but the actress playing this was experienced and her use of tone and modulation(ah, that long lost skill) alongwith a witty and at-times catty dialogue held us suspended in the theatre, straining to listen to her, laughing at some of her atrocious statements "Did she think that I had done an M.Ed to teach her daughter on what to wear for whom, pyjamas for the Punjabis, lenghas for the Gujaratis??" ending with the statement,"Oh, it must be another apartment!", the typical Indian way of explaining away blunders in society when one marks on a well-known person's behaviour was par comparison.
Definitely a troupe to watch out for - Theatre Nisha.
Monday, April 2
A new financial year
Its the start of a new financial year in India now and we have been toasting the last year's results over the weekend. The toasts ranged from "Here's to CAGRs", "May all our balance sheets tally!!" to down-right "May my customers remain ignorant"!!
Since I work for this MNC, my increment news has come in and my raise is about 38%, even I cannot complain of this.
So here's a toast to my company - "May we reach the targets - both the topline and the bottom-line so that we all earn our complete bonuses this year!!"
Since I work for this MNC, my increment news has come in and my raise is about 38%, even I cannot complain of this.
So here's a toast to my company - "May we reach the targets - both the topline and the bottom-line so that we all earn our complete bonuses this year!!"
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